Kiroki Kyoshin
by smileyjill2002
Summary: Chapter 1: Tearjerker Daughter of Seaman dies in Kurama's care.Chapter 2: 5yearold Kiki gives Koenma a major headache.
1. Kiki's Death

"Hurry, we're losing her," Dr. Minamino yelled in a quicken voice, his voice muffled by his operation mask. "I need some epinephrine and liquid aspirin, STAT!"

"Right away, sir," responded one of the nurses.

"You think she will pull through this?" pondered Dr. Yung.

"I am praying that she does. She's Kyoshin's kid. I'd hate to break the news to him if she didn't pull through." "Come on Kiki, you can do this. Please pull through," pleaded Dr. Minamino.

"We've put the drugs in her, but there is no sign of improvement. She's fading fast," replied the nurse.

"We can't give up on her, Anita, we have to try anything. I don't care what it is; she has to pull through. She's only five years old. We just celebrated her birthday, Saturday. This is Tuesday. She must pull through."

"She's flat-lining. We need the paddles, STAT!" shouted a female doctor.

"Give me those, Dr. Kotuku," demanded Minamino, "On a count of three, one two three." Kiki's body pulses off the table. "Come back to us, Kiki, please! Come on! Megumi and Saito need their playmate back. That's you. Please come on!" he pleaded.

He rubbed the beads of sweat that were forming a ring around his cyan hairnet with one of his gloved wrists. Suddenly he heard a soft whisper in his ears. "Hey Kurama, almost didn't recognize you there. We have her in our care."

"Who's we?" He glanced at the lavender eyes of a familiar blue-haired woman. "Botan, can't you see we are trying to get her to come back. I have no time for this."

"Hinageshi is here too, we're here to take her home. There's nothing you can do, I'm sorry."

"She's gone, but she was just here!" he exclaimed in a distraught voice.

"Sorry sir, there's nothing more we can do, except inform her parents and console them for their loss," apologized Dr. Yung. "Do you want me to tell them, or do you want to?"

"You do what you want, man," Kurama sighed, "I'll just be in my office. You can inform her parents." He sighed deeply and looked up at the black-haired man. "I've got to make a couple phone calls, and I want time to think." He looked at Botan, "Hey when you are done with Kiki, come by my office, a.s.a.p."

"Sure thing, sir," she sighed, looking away from him. He hastened out of the ER and headed down the hallway to the nurse's desk. "Hey, Betty, could you hold my calls for me? I'm going be in my office, but I want some downtime. I just lost a patient."

"I'm so sorry, doc. Sure I'll take your calls. By the way, you do have one from your wife."

"Thanks, I was going to call her anyways. Right now I'm going to the restroom, I haven't been since 5:30 this morning and it's almost noon."

He walked into the men's and saw a blond-haired doctor standing in front of a urinal. "Hey, Henson," he sighed in a dower voice. Kurama removed the hairnet from his head and combed his fingers through his long hair.

"Hey man, you look like hell," commented Henson as the red-haired man took his position beside him.

"I feel like I've been to hell. I've been through almost seven hours on a little girl fighting for her life. She lost the fight and now I've got to write her report."

"So sorry, Minamino. I know you take those things hard. So who was she?"

Kurama flushed the urinal and walked to the sink. He stared at himself in the mirror. He opened up the facet and splashed his face with cold water to disguise the tears rolling down his cheeks. "She uh…" he sniffed back the snot in his nose, trying to dislodge a lump in his throat. "She was one of my friends' kids. Kyoshin's." He looked up into Henson's eyes as he walked over to the sink, too.

"Isn't that the swimming coach for Seiko Elementary? Sorry, man, I know you treated Kiki like she was one of your own." Henson graced his arm over Kurama's shoulders, and the two men exchanged bear hugs. Henson patted Minamino on his back. Minamino made motions to leave and Henson drew back his arms.

"I've got to get into my office. I've got two calls to make and I'm expecting a visitor. She should be done with her job by now."

He found his office door, flung it open, and slammed it shut. He grabbed the mask off his face and smacked it against his desk. He paced back and forth, as if waiting on someone. He sat in his chair behind his desk and was about to dial his phone, when he heard his door knock.

"K-Kurama, may I come in?" asked Botan in a worried voice.

"Sure door's open," he said in a stern voice.

"What's the matter with all of you in Spirit World? Do you think this is some sort of game?" he screamed, smacking his hand against the top of the desk, as he whirled himself back in front of it and stared at her in the face.

"No, sir, this is no fun for me. You think I like taking people to our place, especially children that young? Koenma was saddened to hear this young girl was going up there today."

"But what is the deal?" he steamed, again pacing the floor. "You have this all-knowing plan, like you know who is going to die. Meanwhile I am busting my fucking balls down here, trying my hardest to save their lives. A man like me can only take so much, Botan, but I feel like you guys do nothing but make me feel like a fucking moron," he thundered, with his face turning as red as his hair.

"I understand your frustration," she said in a calm, yet firm voice, "Yusuke asked the very same question when he first died. But Kurama, you should know better than anybody else that that is the way things go sometimes. You've stared death in the face more than once in your life, you've even lost your mother and Yomi to it. But that is the natural order of things, that's why I have a job. My job is to escort people to the other side."

"But he has either you or Hinageshi to take the loved one away from their families and friends? It's neither fair for them nor the patient," he argued, as he leaned up against his desk with his arms crossed. "And this isn't just some little girl; this is Seaman's kid. Kiroki Kyoshin, or Kiki, is both Megumi and Saito's best friend. They'd always play at anyone of our houses. Plus this year Kiki's in Megumi's preschool class at Saranaski. Next year she was going to be sharing the class with Saito."

"I know who she was. I remember her from day one myself. I know she shared your birthday."

Kurama stared to calm down a bit, trying to cool off his own frustrations. "Well it's more than just she shared my birthday, Botan, I helped deliver her. You see, Mitarai and his wife, Yumi, were married a month after Yusuke and Keiko's wedding. For years since then they were trying to get pregnant. Then about when Megumi was born, Yumi announced she was pregnant. Everyone was so excited for her. After that, Yusuke, Kuwabara, and I took him out to Tsukihito's Bar to celebrate."

"Yes I know, your girlfriend at the time told me about it, right when we were waiting for Megumi to be born at Genkai's temple. Her brother said Mitarai and Yumi couldn't make it to the temple because Yumi was so sick, she couldn't say away from the toilet bowl for very long."

"Well fast forward to the next year, month after the accident, to my birthday, and we were all over at Shizuru's house, eating cake and drinking tea. I had gotten up to use the bathroom, and I came back to find Yumi suddenly go into labor. Her water had broken and this kid was coming out fast. Yusuke, Seaman, and Kuwabara helped her to Shizuru's guest bedroom. Meanwhile I filled the tub in the guest bathroom with lukewarm water. Yumi said she wanted a water birth. So we four guys put her in the tub. She pushed with all her might, as Seaman held her back for support. I held my hands under the water to catch the baby as she was coming. It wasn't maybe thirty minutes when we got Mrs. Kyoshin into the tub that little Kiroki popped out and greeted us all with a loud waah."

"Yeah that was a good night. I too was glad that she was in the world," she recalled.

Kurama sighed very deeply, trying to shake off the growing pain in his heart. He tried to swallow a lump in his throat, even trying to cough it out to no avail. "Well, two or three years ago, week after Christmas, Megumi and Kiki were at our house with both of their parents, admiring our new baby, Saito. Megumi and Kiki were playing out in the snow with Yusuke, when Kiki started shaking. Megumi thought she was just cold, but Yusuke brought Kiki inside to me. She wouldn't respond to anything, just shook out of control. He held her as still as possible, while he and I made a b-line to the hospital in his car. Everyone else, except for my wife, followed us close behind. Shizuru hung back, since she was a new mom and didn't want Saito to be out in the cold.

We arrived there and went straight to the E.R. After maybe ten minutes, we finally had Kiki sedated. Her doctor ran a physical on her, and found out she had epilepsy. Almost two years old, and she was hit with that prognosis. As you can imagine, Seaman and Yumi were shocked and devastated. They couldn't believe this news."

"That's what Koenma told me," Botan sighed, as she planted her butt on the back of a chair and crossed her legs. Kurama sat on his desk and looked at her, trying to wipe tears from his eyes. "Are you all right? I'm sorry; I know I shouldn't have asked that, after what happened just now."

"I'll be all right. It's these allergies I just get. Maybe the room is too dusty," he replied, trying to hide his emotions. Botan knew he was lying but didn't want to push the issue.

"So what happened? Did you do anything to help her improve?"

"We did. Well most of the time though, she seemed like a normal healthy kid. She was funny, curious, and spunky. On her second birthday, she was surprised with a service dog. He was the sweetest thing ever. He was big, but not too big for the Kyoshins to handle. He was a beautiful chocolate lab named Bobo. They had him shipped from the US to here in Japan. Actually he flew over. After awhile all four were inseparable. It was Megumi, Kiki, Saito and Bobo. He was good for Kiki. Whenever she would have a seizure, he would lay down beside her and put his big soft paws on her legs."

"Is Bobo still there, you speak of him in the past tense?" she wondered.

"That guy, of course, he's their son. The Kyoshins treat him as their kid, although I don't know for how long. Yumi is pregnant again. She found out last week that this one is a little boy. So I guess they will have two sons."

"So what happened this time?"

"We think that her prognosis wasn't getting any better. In fact, the seizures were coming too close together. Seaman told me, she was having trouble even holding water down. She was constantly vomiting, she couldn't control her own body, it was shaking violently. She was unable to breath properly. They rushed her in here, about midnight and we've been working on her ever since. I barely had time to get ready this morning. I rushed out at 5:30, got to the hospital. I ate a bagel and went to the restroom after I got here. I was in the E.R. at 5:45 and have been working nonstop trying to get her sedated. She suddenly went into arrest after 7:30. We've been trying to get her condition under control. She was calmed down from the sedatives and slept for an hour. Then at 9:00, she went under again with a seizure. At one point her heart stopped. We were able to shock her back to life. Then she was put on a respirator because she couldn't breath on her own. She was set for an hour and a half this time. Then about 11:20, she collapsed. That's when everything went south. Her pulse was dropping, fluid was building up around her lungs; she couldn't breath properly. Then she went into shock about the time you and Hinageshi showed up. We tried everything, but we were powerless. At 11:45, she was gone." He bit his lower lip and gazed down at his lap, where his fingers were folded into a ball. His eyes stared back at her then off into space, trying to blink the tears out of his eyes.

Botan stood up and walked over to him and placed her hand on his shoulder. "Do you mind if I hugged you?"

"Sure, I suppose. You are my best friend." He stood up and allowed her to embrace him in her arms. She slid her arms underneath his arms and enclosed them on his back.

"You can rest your head on my shoulders if you want to." He did as she permitted. He rested his head on her shoulders held her loosely around her back.

"Thank you, Botan, it's just like we've lost an angel. I can't believe that I'd be the same man who saw her come into the world would be the one who saw her leave. I thought it should be the other way around. I'm supposed to die before her." He drew back from her hastily the walked to a couch beside the door, and flopped onto the cushions. "Please close the door for me. I don't want anyone else seeing me right now." He sat hunched over with his elbows on his knees. Kurama rubbed his hands on his face, and then looked up at her with wet eyes.

She closed the door and sat down beside him. She held his hand and stroked it softly with hers. "I tried to save her, Botan," he said with his quivering lips, "I did everything I could. What should I have done differently? Was there anything that could have saved her? I would've done just about anything, even use my demonic powers."

Botan embraced him once again, letting his face fall into her shoulder. "There was nothing to do. You did everything possible. Koenma said he's proud of you everyday. You save countless lives. We like having fewer people in Spirit World, and that's due to wonderful and caring doctors like you. We know you tried to save her. You are a healer, but you aren't Enma. You are no god. And it's okay to get angry and frustrated at us up there. But that is because you are a caring person who likes for others to get better and feel better."

"But what does it matter? If I save a life, to you it just means I am doing nothing more than prolonging the inevitable." Tears poured from his eyes, as he buried his face into the top shoulders of her pink kimono. "Am I doing good, or giving into the void? What is the point of all of this? Where did I go wrong? Did I screw up and she's…or…" His voice trailed off into nothingness, as his breath became shallow and choked.

She held on to him tight, as much as she could and gently rubbed his back in slow circular motions. "It's okay. It matters plenty. You've done nothing wrong. You didn't screw up. Even if you did, you tried. You did your best. You held onto her until the end. You've always been there for her. You're there for Yusuke's kids and for your own."

"I-I just wish t-tha-a-a…Bot…" He became so choked up, that he couldn't speak. The weigh on his heart became so heavy that he couldn't hold back any longer. His tears gushed out of his eyes like a geyser, soaking Botan's kimono. "I just wish we had saved her," he whispered under a sodden voice. For the longest time she held onto him without a word. She combed her fingers through the back of his head while holding it against her body. He continued to weep, trying to muffle his own moans and sighs in the bodice of her kimono.

"I know you wish you had saved her. I wish she were alive too. Maybe there is a way to save her still."

"How can that be, she's dead? You know how it goes. First thing she will have a wake at her house. Then the day of the funeral, her body will be…will be…" he stuttered and mouthed the word burned, which made him sob even harder with his mouth gaping. Once again he buried his face into her shoulder.

"Maybe you can ask Mitarai and Yumi if they'd like to have her organs donated. Maybe to save the life of other children," Botan suggested, trying her best to comfort him.

"Yeah maybe, there is a little boy that is in desperate need of kidneys. His are bad and he's on a dialysis machine all the time. I think he's also her blood type, AB negative." He sighed heavily, trying to slow down the pace of his tears. "We…we also have a girl in need of a new heart, hers is malfunctioning, her doctor only gave her a few months to live otherwise. And we have a third who needs a new bladder and liver. He can't rid his body of toxins very well and he can't urinate regularly, because his bladder is close to rupture. He's hooked up a set of tubes and a machine that drain his ureters on a continuous basis." Kurama's face started returning to normal, as he tried to drain the tears from his eyes and dry off his face. He pulled away from Botan and stood up slowly. He looked down at her and offered his hands to hoist her back up. "I think Seaman would go for that. Would you like to join me?" She obliged and grabbed his hands. He opened the door for her and the two of them walked down the corridors to the Kyoshin's counsel room.


	2. Kiki the Question Queen

Meanwhile, back in Spirit World, Koenma was sitting at his desk reading over Kiki's file when he heard a knock at his door. "Come in, door's open, Hinag…" he replied looking up at her, "Oh wait it's you, Shiori. How nice to see you."

"Thank you, sir. Hinageshi is here too, she's got a little girl with her. Botan went back down to check on my son."

"Yeah well you see him up here every now and then. He likes checking on his former patients, seeing how they are getting along. He wasn't up too long ago."

"He came up for the day before his birthday; we spent the entire day together," she smiled in a daydream. "Sometimes I forget that Shuuichii is a demon and is able to travel from Earth to here in Spirit World, without having to go through the pains of dying."

Koenma saw Hinageshi walk in behind Shiori with the girl walking beside her. The little girl kept swerving her head to and fro, gazing at the vast halls of the gate. Koenma changed from his toddler form into his teen form. "Wow, lady, that kid got as big as you. Can I do that, too?" asked the girl.

Koenma knelt down to her and beckoned her to him. "Wow, mister, you look like Superman. Can you fly like him too?"

"Who's Superman?" asked Koenma, looking at either of the two women.

"He used to be Shuuichii's favorite superhero. He's this comic book hero that has a big red cape, blue suit, and red boots. He flies around the world and saves people. The kids love him. I'll explain more to you later about him," replied Shiori, as she knelt down to admire the girl. "Hey I recognize you, you're that Kiki girl. Mr. and Mrs. Kyoshin's daughter. Wow you've gotten big. Last time I saw you, you were almost two. How old are you now?"

Kiki counted on her little fingers then showed her whole palm to Shiori. "Wow, you're five. You're almost a woman now."

"Who are you lady?"

"This is Mrs. Minamino, Kiki," replied Koenma, "Don't you remember her?"

"Well it's been three years since I died, I don't think she'd remember that well. Kiki, you can call me Shiori if you like."

"What does died mean?" Kiki wondered, looking up at both Shiori and Koenma.

"It's like when you go to sleep and end up in your dreams forever," Shiori replied, "I went to sleep one day and a beautiful angel came and brought me here to Spirit World."

Kiki smiled big and giggled, "That happened to me too. I went to sleep before lunch today and these two ladies brought me here, a blue-haired lady and this red-haired one." She looked up at Koenma eyes, "Did that happen to you too, Mister?"

"No, Kiki, I live here. My name is Koenma. This is my home," he smiled with tears pooling in his eyes.

"Wow, your house is neat. It's so big. I wish mommy and daddy could see it. Can they come up and see it too?"

Koenma's tears poured down his cheeks, "No, I'm sorry, they can't come up right now."

"Why not? I want them to see it. I want them to come here. This place is big enough, maybe Megumi and Saito can come too."

Koenma hugged her tightly in arms, "I'm sorry, it doesn't work that way."

"Can I go see them? Please?" she requested. "I couldn't see my friends yesterday or this morning 'cause I was sick, but I'm fine now, Mr. Koenma." She looked up into his eyes and saw the tears streaming down. "Hey why are you crying, Sir? Big people aren't supposed to cry, only babies and kids do that."

"Are you okay, Sir?" asked Shiori, in concern. "Hey, Hinageshi, could you take her over to George for a while? I want to be alone with Koenma for awhile."

"Hey, Blue Ogre. You want to say hi to Kiki?" Hinageshi asked as Shiori closed Koenma's door.

"Hey, what's wrong? I've never seen you so torn up by a client before," she asked as she knelt back down and hugged Koenma.

"I'm sorry, she just got to me. She's such a sweet, innocent girl. I don't know if she's ready to hear that she's dead. I don't think she'd grasp that notion. I'm beginning to feel she just wasn't ready to die." He sniffed back his tears, trying to keep calm.

"Well maybe you should have her go to Earth as a ghost. You know ever since my death, I've found my calling here, to involve deceased children in activities here in Heaven's Garden and allow them to visit their parents and loved ones in their dreams. This helps the children and the parents deal with the death in a positive light. With her, since both of her parents, the Urameshis, my son and daughter-in-law, her brother, and my grandchildren are able to see ghosts, she should spend time with them as a ghost until all are willing to accept her passing."

Koenma looked at her, thinking to himself for a while. "Yeah, I like that idea. And I may have her materialize back on Earth. Maybe soon too."

The next evening, back on earth, the Kyoshins were back in their house, hosting their daughter's wake. Crowds were gathered around their house to pay their respects to Kiroki. Among the crowd were the Urameshis, the Minaminos, Kuwabara and his wife, Yukina, and Botan dressed in a black kimono. Yusuke and Keiko were kneeling before Kiki's alter and casket. Kurama stood outside with Shizuru, hugging her as tight as he could, trying to comfort her tears.

"Hey, Botan, thanks for coming," commented Seaman, still seated beside the door with his wife.

"I'm so sorry I took her. She's such a sweet girl," replied Botan.

"I know, but that's your job right? You take the soul to Spirit World, after he or she is done with this life."

Kurama overheard Botan and Seaman's conversation as he and Shizuru walked in. "Hi Yumi, how have you been? I know this must be hard on you," said Shizuru, in a soft voice.

"Thanks, where's your two?" asked Yumi.

"Saito and Megumi are off playing, my mom is watching them. Sakura is…there she is, she was visiting her uncle Kazuma. Can you say hi, Sakura?" The little toddler ran up and hid behind her mother. "Okay so we are being shy today. Well sometimes with a large crowd like this, she gets scared. Hey hon, do you want to take her, I want to sit and chat with Yumi, if you don't mind?"

Kurama hoisted the little girl onto his shoulders. "Come on, Saks, let's go talk to Botan." He motioned to the blue-haired woman to follow him into a vacant corner of the veranda. "Hey, how did everything go yesterday? I forgot to ask."

"Before I met with you, I took Kiki to Spirit World. I left her with Hinageshi. Your mother was up there talking to Koenma about something. That's when I came back down and met with you in your office."

"What did you do with Kiki?" he asked curiously.

"I said I left her with Hinageshi and Koenma." Botan noticed Kurama covering his face with his free hand. "What's wrong?"

Kurama shook his head. "Hey, Seaman, come here," he yelled.

Seaman stood up and walked over to his friend. "What's going on, Fox boy?"

"Take a wild stab where Kiki is, man," suggested Kurama.

"She's up in… Botan you didn't leave her with Koenma, did you?"

"Why yes, that's where all the souls end up, going up to him. Why?"

Mr. Kyoshin placed his hands over his mouth and eyes. "You should've come back down with her. Not left her there," he replied in a fake weep.

"Yusuke, come here," motioned Seaman with his hand. Yusuke hastened his pace and stared with questioned look on his face. "Guess who has Kiki right now."

"What, he has her?" Yusuke shook his head, "Now he knows what it's like. Botan, you don't leave someone like Kiki up in Spirit World."

"I feel sorry for her," Botan responded.

"Save your sympathies for Koenma. Megumi is her same age, five," explained Yusuke, "I'll tell you what five-year-olds love to do. They love asking questions. Megumi does this to me all the time. But she isn't half as bad as Kiki."

"Kiki's a good girl. She's a sweet angel," commented Botan, "You said it, Kurama, she's cute, funny, curious, and spunky."

"Fox boy, you have a three-year-old, but that's no excuse for lying to this woman." Seaman shook his head. "Botan, you've missed the man's point. You don't leave a five-year-old in Spirit World, especially Kiki, the Question Queen."

"Hey, Kurama-kun, I can feel a very strong spiritual presence here," whispered Shizuru, "So can Yumi. Actually I sense two spirits."

"I'll bet you a million yen who they are," sighed Kurama, whispering back to her, "and judging by one of them, he's not too happy."

Megumi ran straight to Yusuke, followed by Saito. "Daddy, can we play with Kiki? She's here. See."

Yusuke rolled his eyes and stared at Kiki's ghost. "Go play in her room, but keep her out of sight of the other guests. We don't want to scare any of the other guests." "She looks very much the same, except for the ghost look."

Shizuru peeked at Kiki as Saito and Megumi walked her back into the house. "Well, dear, she's back. What now?"

"Botan," came a stern voice behind her, "may I have a word with you?" Botan stared straight ahead with a sheepish grin and a drop of sweat.

"Can we all come too?" asked Seaman, "I think you need our support right now, Koenma."

Before entering his house, Seaman knelt down beside Yumi and whispered into her ear. "Guess who's back here, again." Her eyes widened and she motioned to an older woman in the yard.

The woman walked over and bent down. "Hey, mom, I need to go inside with Mitarai, please. Could you take my place here to greet the guests?"

"Yes, dear," she complied, "however it seems that a great majority have already gone home for the evening."

The group gathered in an isolated room, away from the other guests. Everyone sat on chairs and sofas, while Koenma paced the floor. He looked into Seaman's eyes, then into Botan's.

"What did my little girl do now?" sighed Seaman, rolling his eyes.

"She's a good girl, cute as a button, and very curious," replied Koenma in a nervous voice. He held his fingernails close to his mouth, and continued to pace the floor.

"That's not what I asked. Why did we all see her down here in ghost form just now?"

"Well, Kurama's mother suggested bring her down here to get both you and her comfortable with her passing. I figured that I should do it now."

"Do it now, when everyone, except for our small group in here, wouldn't understand what the nature of a ghost is?" asked Kurama in a concerned voice, as he sat in a recliner and placed Sakura on the floor. "I know that my mother is a smart, caring woman. She understands the wishes of the dead, because she is dead too. I think her idea of having Kiki down here part time is a good one. But, I don't think she meant now."

"Koenma you are such a coward. Please answer Mr. Kyoshin's question. What did…?"

"Never mind, Urameshi," sighed Seaman, as he sat on his couch, hunched over, with Yumi's hand on his back. "I've got the message. Kiki was asking Koenma a gazillion questions, since she got up there."

"I can't get any work done, and she's got a string of questions for me," sighed Koenma, as he plopped into a recliner beside Botan, who was seated on the floor. "'When's lunch?', 'Who's my mommy?', 'Why do you work with boogie monsters?' What's that, by the way? 'Where are the toys?' 'Can I watch your big TV?' Just on and on. Is there a way to shut her up?"

"Koenma, welcome to our world," chuckled Yumi, as she scratched her forehead, "We had one and the Urameshis' have one too. Kids that age love to do that. They ask way too many questions and get into stuff they aren't supposed to. Half the time you scold them, then you end up laughing at their antics."

"Hey, Keiko, do you remember what happened the day after Christmas, a few months ago?" asked Yusuke, as he leaned back in a cushioned chair, with one leg crossing his lap.

"Yes, and I have the picture of Yoshi in my purse," replied Keiko, as she pulled the purse into her lap and searched inside the zipper. "Thanks a lot for taking this one, dear," she commented as she proceeded to give Sakura the photo and asked her to give it to Botan.

Koenma saw it in Botan's hands, "Who or what is that thing?" He grabbed it and showed the group, trying to keep his pacifier in his mouth. Sakura stood beside Botan and patted her hands with hers.

"That's a six-month-old drag queen," sighed Seaman, laughing as hard he could, "Kiki and Megumi's handy work." Everyone else was driven to tears, and Koenma spat out the pacifier from laughter.

"That day, Shizuru, Keiko, Yumi, and Yukina were out shopping. Kurama was home with his two. I had Megs, Kiki, and Yoshi in my care at our house. I was on my bed taking a nap. Megs and Kiki are also at the age where boys are gross. Megs said she changed her mind and wanted a sister, not a stupid brother. Kiki whispers that she can solve the problem. I heard one of them tiptoe in my bedroom, make a scuffling sound, and tiptoe back out. The next thing I hear is Yoshi screaming. My curiosity got the better of me and got up and went to his room. When I saw him, I dashed back to my room and grabbed my camera out of my top dresser drawer. Then I went back and…" Yusuke paused, almost in tears from laughing so hard, "I…I took that picture of my son in Kiki's baby-doll dress and Keiko's red lipstick smeared on his…" The black-haired man couldn't speak any further, as his hands covered over his eyes, and tears dribbled down his face.

Kurama kept staring down the hallway, towards Kiki's room. "What's the matter, dear?" asked Shizuru.

"I keep hearing this thudding sound from back there, like someone's hitting a wall, or…What are you guys doing back there?"

"Daddy," yelled a little voice, "Kiki's not being fair. How do I do what she's doing?"

"What is Kiki doing?" questioned Seaman. Kurama didn't answer him, instead stood up and walked back down the hallway.

"Kyoshin! Get down here right now! You too,Yusuke. You have got to see this."

The two guys walked down, followed by Shizuru and Yumi. "Kiroki Kyoshin! You get your ghost-butt out of the wall right now!" scolded her father.

"But daddy, I can walk right through it now. See. Neat, huh." Yusuke and Seaman almost started to cry from laughing too hard at Kiki. Yumi couldn't believe her eyes and Shizuru closed hers and rubbed her forehead, both in laughter, too.

"I want to do that too, daddy," pleaded Megumi, "Can you teach me to walk through walls, please?"

"Yeah, me too walls," Saito tried to repeat. Kurama planted his butt on the floor and covered his eyes with his hand. Tears started gushing out of his eyes.

"You what?" he cried, laughing as hard as he could. Yusuke leaned against Seaman, and Yumi buried her face into Shizuru's shoulder and all five adults busted out laughing.

"But Mr. Kyoshin, why can Kiki walk through walls?" asked Megumi, looking at the two men standing.

"Honey, Kiki's a ghost. She can do that because she's a ghost," replied Yusuke.

Megumi's eyes opened wide, "Say! I've got this good idea, Daddy. Can I become a ghost?"

"Yeah, me too, ghost," chimed in Saito, "Daddy, I want be ghost too, please?" Kurama cried as hard as he could.

"No you can't be a ghost, son. Neither can you, Megs," Kurama smiled, trying to contain his laughter. The two moaned and Kurama went on further, "Sorry, guys, we don't need anymore ghosts." He sat for a moment, then his eyes started to widen. "Hey, kids you want to come back out with us?" "Hey Yumi, can you check to see if theirs anybody outside?"

She nodded and ran to the front door. She quickly ran back, "There is just Kazuma and Yukina outside. Everyone else has gone home. I've asked if they'd like to come in. They are in with Keiko, Sakura, and the two from Spirit World."

The group marched back into the main room with all three kids. As everyone was seated back in their spots, Kurama spoke out his thoughts. "Hey I think I have figured out something. It might work, if Koenma would go with it."

"What's your plan? Is it to keep Kiki out of my office?"

"Well you know how many times I come up there. Everyday, sometimes twice."

"Yeah," replied Koenma, "I see you up there on a regular basis."

"How do you do that without having to die?" asked Yumi, "Don't you have to die to be up there?"

"Not everyone up there is dead, hon," answered Seaman, "Koenma and Botan are from there. They are…what are you?"

"I'm the son of Enma, myself. Botan and Hinageshi are both carriers of dead souls; we have ogres working in filing. I'm the head of Spirit World."

"Wow, that's what I do," replied Yumi, "I head a small business firm in Tokyo, so what you describe is basically like a corporate office type setting. That's why you were having trouble with Kiki. Kids get bored easily and they try to entertain themselves."

"That's why my mother suggested Heaven's Garden and also suggested Kiki to come here to the living world," explained Kurama, "She knows what kids like, she raised me all by herself."

"Then why can Kurama go up there? He makes it sound more like he's going the northern mountains here in Japan," questioned Yumi.

Shizuru smiled at Yumi and said, "My husband isn't human and the kids are only half humans. They are actually fox demons. Incase you haven't noticed, Sakura and Saito are starting to develop pointy tips at the top of their ears. They are demons. They can do stuff that humans can't do. Like…Hey dear, do you remember what you did Christmas Eve?"

"I brought Saito and Sakura up to see mom, while you were shopping and hanging out with Keiko. We spent the whole day with her, touring all the areas in Spirit World. Saito loved Heaven's Garden because it's just like you are thinking. It's a lush, outdoorsy environment with trees to climb, maze gardens to walk through, and beautiful waterfalls and springs to play in. Adult spirits and souls, like my mom, run it and it's for dead children to go play in and act like children. The dead children there admired him and Sakura because they were the only kids there still alive. Saito even met a friend there and they played."

"Do you think when you go up there that you can take Kiki up and back with you? Maybe the kids can go too?" suggested Shizuru, scanning her eyes between her husband and Koenma.

"I like the idea, actually," replied Seaman, "It gives her a chance to get used to her new situation as a ghost. She is not suddenly yanked from her old home and us. She stays here with her stuff and her bed. And it would give us a chance to still be with her; it wouldn't hurt as bad as not having her here. And then I think if Kurama can come by and get her, when he leaves for Spirit World, she goes with him. He can introduce her to his mother. You know, Shiori, Kiki?" he asked his ghost-girl sitting on his lap. She shook her head. "It would be like when we took you to your first day of preschool. You meet everyone in this Heaven's Garden place. I think you might make a few friends up there. Then you get to come home after awhile and be with us again."

Kurama smiled and shook his head, "I do like that idea, I go up every morning before 5:30 AM to check on and chat with my former patients, and then I go up again after my shift at the hospital, at 5:00 PM. I can transport Kiki with me at those two times." "I would like to do this for her tomorrow."

"Tomorrow's the funeral, dear," yawned Shizuru, trying to keep awake, "When does it start, Yumi?"

"Twelve noon is her funeral. You'll have plenty of time to take her to Shiori, Kurama. If she were there at the funeral, she'd be bored to tears. Knowing her, she'd try to get her b-o-d-y up and then wonder why it's not working. Then she'd scare everyone trying to find out why," Yumi chuckled, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't laugh at something that's supposed to be sad."


End file.
